4 Reasons Why the Security Industry is Reappraising the Indian Market

With IFSEC India about to get underway in New Delhi, IFSEC Global examines why renewed optimism about the Indian market is evident among both domestic and international exhibitors.

1. Pro-business government

India’s new ruling party, the BJP, is stridently pro-business. Bureaucracy has been streamlined, including procedures for government approvals, while 17 related ministries have been consolidated into just seven departments.

Promises to boost foreign direct investment and slash red tape have already triggered a surge in India’s stock market to unprecedented highs.

2. India is the most buoyant emerging market right now

Forget China or Brazil. Right now India is eclipsing its fellow BRIC countries and thriving at a time when the rapid growth of emerging markets has been largely checked.

While the IMF recently slashed growth forecasts for most emerging markets it actually increased its 2014 forecast for India to 5.8%. Not so long ago the country was registering growth of 8-9% and if the ruling party successfully pushes through their reforms then 7% can be posted by 2017, according to JP Morgan Asset Management.

US President Barack Obama addresses the Indian Parliament in 2010

India is a big oil importer and as such benefited from recent falls in crude oil prices. Likewise, deflationary pressures elsewhere around the globe have helped the country’s economy, which has instead suffered from high inflation.

A HSBC Report has predicted that the Rupee would continue to buck the trend of weakening Asian currencies next year. “The INR has outperformed the region, supported by strong portfolio inflows and reform optimism, while improving macro data also helped. This story should continue in 2015,” the bank said in a research note.

3. Security is a major priority

The South Asian Terrorism Portal has identified no fewer than 180 terrorism groups operating in India over the past two decades, and the threat has arguably worsened in recent years.

The multi-ethnic state has fallen prey to a number of terror attacks. In 2008 a series of coordinated machine gun attacks killed 172 and in 2011 three bomb explosions at different locations killed 26.

Security of all varieties is therefore a major priority for government and private businesses alike. With the flourishing economy boosting the coffers of both, the notion that security is a grudge purchase applies to India less and less.

4. India is investing big in ‘safe cities’ infrastructure

As we reported in August India has committed INR73.6 (£710m) to the construction of 100 ‘smart’ cities. Buoyed by his thumping electoral victory Prime Minister Nahendra Modi promised to build 100 satellite towns surrounding existing metropolises.

Encompassing every area of security from surveillance through PSIM to physical security such grand projects promise contracts galore of security companies from across the spectrum.

India’s first-ever safe city project is already underway in Surat,  which will be the country’s first city to be systematically covered by electronic surveillance cameras. The project, which will be implemented in five phases, will deploy a network of 5,000 surveillance cameras across 500 locations covering an area of 150 sq km in Gujarat’s second largest metropolis.

“The Indian government has clearly declared its intentions to revamp the country’s ailing infrastructure by building 100 Smart Cities across the nation,” says Ankush Kumar, the new editor of the newly launched IFSEC India. “This has led to a revolution among the leading companies from various sectors that are now looking to partner Indian Government for building smart infrastructure.”

“With the ever rising crime rate and international terrorist threats, one of the key areas which is a must for any new age smart city is ‘security and surveillance’. A city first needs to be safe for becoming smart.

“From intelligent traffic management to smart homes, security has been the crucial area which cannot be undermined. Some of the market leaders in electronic security industry have started seeing smart city as a new business vertical.”
Click here for free registration to attend IFSEC India, which takes place between 11-13 December 2014 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

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